Yenagoa, July 17, 2018 (AltAfrica)-Bayelsa State Assembly has sacked the state security outfit, alleging comprise by the outfit.

A member of the state Assembly, Retd Colonel Bernard Kenebai while defending the decision of the legislators to sack the outfit, Darlong Security Services, said, it was done in the interest of the state.

According to him, the company which was commissioned to tackle issues such as oil theft, illegal bunkering and other sundry crimes has now turned around to be the chief sponsors of those crimes.

Kenebai who sponsored the motion that led to the resolution said it became imperative following some security reports that the company‎ was engaged in illegal activities.

Honourable Kenebai, a former Security Adviser to the Bayelsa State Goverment said there was nothing political about the resolution as the assembly was clearly acting on its mandate of ensuring that the state remains safe and peaceful ‎.

The lawmaker stated that communities such as Ondewari, Korokoresi, amongst others have been under series of attack from operatives of the company’s taskforce.

While calling on Bayelsans not to be swayed by the reactions of agents of the company, Kenebai challenged the management to submit themselves for investigation on the wide allegations that‎ they were recruiting cultists and stock pilling arms and ammunition.

He described as mischievous the decision by some persons to play politics with the resolution by dragging the name Governor Henry Seriake Dickson into the matter rather than coming out to clear their name, adding that it was “another failed political attempt to run the governor down.”

Kenebai said, “Darlong Security Services has gone out of their original mandate and have started inflicting pains, hardship and sorrow to people of Southern Ijaw and other areas of their operation. Their activities have become‎ a recipe for chaos which needs to be stemmed immediately.

“As an assembly we have received complaints of the illegal activities of the Taskforce of Darlong Security Services.‎ They have done more harm than good. So upon the presentation of the motion, the assembly resolved as follows: To call on the Governor of Bayelsa State as Chief Security Officer of the state to intervene and call them to order”

Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has thrown its weight behind the action of Bayelsa State House of Assembly regarding Darlong Security Services in the state.

The IYC believes that the decision will help checkmate the activities ‎of the company that has clearly deviated from its core mandate of tackling issues of oil theft, illegal bunkering and other associated crimes.

Chairman of IYC in the Central Zone, Tare Porri in a statement released to journalists in Yenagoa said Darlong Security Services had brought untold hardship to people of Southern Ijaw and other parts of the state where it is operating because of its personnel who have taken the laws into their hands and are now acting as a defacto force.

Porri alleged that the security firm ‎was recruiting youths, most of whom are renowned cultists to wreck havoc in communities with so much impunity and warned that if they are not called to order, their activities may have a spiral effect.

The IYC helmsman equally called on the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to as a matter of urgency review the contract of Darlong Security Services for the sake of peace and security of lives in the state.

AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.